Here’s Our First Impressions from the Xbox E3 Conference

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Bethesda kicked off the round of E3 2015 press conferences with a bang last night, and Microsoft took to the stage at the Galen center this morning to continue the madness. In addition to the jaw dropping announcement that the Xbox One was getting backwards compatibility and a brand new controller, we got our first look at gameplay footage for titles like Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, were blown away by world premiere announcement of Gears 4, Inafune’s new project Recore, a dedicated version of Minecraft built specifically for the HoloLens, Dark Souls III, Rare’s Sea of Thieves, and a ton of indie titles.

It was an exciting batch of gaming goodness. Just in case you want to know what your missed, we’ve gathered up all of the announcements in this post to keep you informed during the hectic week of E3.

First look at Halo 5 Gameplay, Multiplayer mode Warzone Introduced

First up on the agenda was a lengthy look at Halo 5’s campaign. You’re joined by three other characters in four player co-op on a trek through a massive, dark, sci-fi setting. You’ll be controlling both Master Chief and Spartan Locke’s squads in Halo 5. Though plot details were slim, it will definitely be interesting to see a squad without Master Chief at the helm.

They also debuted brand new footage of a new, action-packed multiplayer mode called “Warzone” which you can see above. The mode supports 24 players and also includes AI-controlled enemies. The footage showed off really emphasized the scale of the huge environments that according to Microsoft are four times the size of any previous map in the Halo series.

Microsoft Announces New Action Adventure title Recore from Inafune.

Surprise, surprise! We have a new action-adventure game from Keiji Inafune, the legendary creator of games like Mega Man, Metroid 3, Lost Planet, and Dead Rising. Check out the beautiful trailer above for a look at the Xbox Exclusive featuring a female protagonist and her adorable robot dog. For more on this title, check out our full post on the game and stay tuned for more information.

BACKWARDS FREAKING COMPATIBILITY. Yes. The time has finally come. Likely to be one of the most exciting announcements to come out of the press conference, Microsoft revealed that you will be able to play your Xbox 360 game on the Xbox One completely free of charge—as long as you already own the title. Bear in mind however, Microsoft states that not all games will work with the service, but around 100 will be available on launch—including Mass Effect. Just pop in your disk, download the game and enjoy. The best part is that the service is available to Xbox Preview members now and will be available for everybody else this holiday season.

Additionally, they also wowed the crowd and showed off an incredible new controller. Though we originally thought the one they were going to announce was just going to sport a headphone jack, this one, as you can see in the image above, is much, much more — and pretty much the controller of our dreams. What’s even better is that the components are interchangeable and new cool new features are added like four interchangeable paddles on the back, hair trigger locks for precise control in shooters, buttons you can remap and more.

Players will also have full control of thumbstick sensitivity, and min/max levels for the controller’s top triggers. These are features already seen in pro controllers produced by third party accessory designers.

EA announces Titanfall as next EA Access Vault title.

We already knew EA had plans of announcing their next EA Access title during E3, but today they took to the stage during Microsoft’s press conference to announce that Titanfall was headed to the vault this week and that Dragon Age Inquisition would make an appearance at the end of the summer. Additionally, EA chief operating officer revealed that EA access—which costs $5 a month or $30 a year, would be open for free this week to Xbox Live Gold members.

Plants VS. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 is coming

We got an official announcement trailer for Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2. Check out the colorful, fun-filled trailer above for a closer look at what’s on its way for the title. The game is slated for an early 2016 release. This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise as EA teased the release of a sequel earlier this month.

New Trailer for Forza 6 Released.

In addition to dropping a car down on stage, Microsoft also released a brand new trailer for Forza Motorsport 6. The footage was more realistic than ever and according to Dan Greenwalt director at Turn 10 studios, “It’s the most comprehensive game yet. The biggest, most technically advanced.”

The game will go on sale September 15th of this year for $60, $80, or $100 depending on whether or not you want to purchase car packs ahead of time and a VIP status that allows you to level up.

Dark Souls III Announced

There were rumors that it was coming, but it was officially confirmed today during the Xbox Press Conference. Dark Souls III is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC early 2016. Check out the awesome trailer above for a small peek at what’s to come.

Pilot program for indie devs called Xbox Game Preview announced.

In addition to several indie titles that will be coming to the Xbox One including: Tacoma, Ashen, Beyond Eyes, and the highly anticipated title Cuphead, a pilot program for independent developers called Xbox Game Preview was announced. The aim of this program is to enable the community to get involved in the process as the game is developed. Join today to trial access to titles like The Long Dark, Shelter, Elite Dangerous, and Day Z.

Crystal Dynamics showed off Rise of the Tomb Raider gameplay.

We finally got our first peek at gameplay from Rise of the Tomb Raider, and boy does it look spectacular. In addition to gameplay, we also got an official release date. The game is set to launch November 10, 2015, which is the same date that Fallout 4 is hitting shelves.

Microsoft Announces Sea of Thieves

After announcing Rare Replay for Xbox One (which we already reported on) Microsoft announced a brand new title called Sea of Thieves. The title is described as a shared world adventure game, and Rare notes that it is the most ambitious game they have ever created. The gameplay they demoed featured a bright and vibrant island setting full of treasure, skeleton pirates, wild seas, cannon fights and more!

New Fable Legends trailer released.

An impressive new Fable Legends trailer was also shown off. The game will be available to play on Windows 10 as well as the Xbox One. Lionhead Studios also announced that the game will be a free-to-play title on both platforms. The trailer above is an evil depiction of the story from the villain’s perspective.

HoloLens Compatible Minecraft is on the way

Probably one of the coolest things about Microsoft’s E3 conference was the announcement and live demo of a Holo Lens Compatible Minecraft! Check out the video above, and our full post on the announcement to learn more.

Gears of War 4 is coming Holiday 2016!

Rejoice, folks! We finally got an official Gears of War 4 announcement. The game will be out Holiday 2016. Check out the video above, and read our full post on the announcement to learn more about the upcoming Gears game!